Family Matters
by bloomscool
Summary: What happens when you mix a teammate's disappearance, an evil little brother from a kingdom on another planet that's brainwashing everyone, x-men, forgotten memories, and a little kid that's somehow linked to the deepest darkest memories you want to forget? A very interesting adventure.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, here I go. Take it easy on me; this is my first time writing for Marvel heroes. Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to Marvel. And my beta reader, AnimeGirl 144, helped me with this story.**

 _Clint looked around. New York City was in ruins. There were several holes in the buildings surrounding him and the street lamps were all twisted. He looked to the ground and gasped, the Avengers were all on the ground, some lied down on cars, and Captain America was lying under rubble._

 _And in the middle of the carnage was a small boy, no more than ten years old. He walked up to the boy and asked, "Are you ok? What happened here?"_

 _The boy looked up at Clint. He had dark brown eyes and shaggy black hair that somehow matched his light green/pale skin. The boy replied, "I'm sorry."_

 _Clint got down to his level and asked, "What are you sorry for?"_

 _The boy stepped back with a terrified look on his face as he replied, "It…it came out. I was so angry and…I'm so sorry. It's my fault."_

 _Clint felt an enormous amount of guilt, more then he should of for someone he didn't remember, and said, "No kid, it wasn't your fault. You're just a kid. You couldn't have caused this."_

 _Hair fell over the kid's face as he looked down and replied, "You're right…it wasn't my fault…it's all your fault!"_

 _Clint stepped back as the kid snarled, "You never think about your actions! You are a complete idiot! It's your fault this thing escaped me! Do you ever think about what this is causing me Clint? Huh? Do ya!?"_

 _Clint fell backwards; he didn't even know this kid, why was he feeling guilty?_

 _The boy continued in a calmer tone of voice, "Y-you said you'd protect me, b-but you didn't. I was destroyed so he'll destroy you now." Suddenly a snarling shadow grabbed Clint._

* * *

 _Natasha looked around. She was in the city, but it was in complete rubble. She saw a small boy staring at Clint's dead body, and so she hurried to the boy and said, "Hey kid, you ok? I don't know what's going on here, but we need to get out of here."_

 _Natasha stepped forward, but the kid stepped backwards and whimpered, "Please don't come any closer."_

 _Natasha stepped forward cautiously as she asked, "Why, what's wrong?"_

 _The kid's hair fell over his face as he whimpered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let it lose. Please don't kill me! Nat, Nat please…don't…don't kill me, please don't kill me!"_

 _Natasha gave a shocked look, before trying to calm the boy down. "I…I'm not going to kill you. Look, it wasn't your fault."_

 _The boy looked up and growled, "You're right, it's your fault! You promised to protect me and you didn't! You put your emotions ahead of your mission and almost got killed! You don't even consider the pain I'm in, do you Nat?"_

 _The kid took deep breaths and continued in a calmer voice, "You didn't protect me. Now he's going to destroy you." A shadow appeared behind Natasha._

* * *

 _Steve looked around in horror. New York City was in shambles. He gasped when he saw a dead Natasha sprawled a few feet away from a small boy who was just staring at her. Steve ran to the boy and asked, "Are you ok?"_

 _The boy looked up to him but didn't speak. Steve gave a concerned look and said, "Come on kid, I've got to get you to safety."_

 _The boy stepped back and asked, "Why, why didn't you protect me? You vowed to save me if he got out and you didn't."_

 _Steve felt an enormous amount of guilt wash over him. Problem was that he didn't remember why. The boy, angered by Steve's silence, growled out, "Don't bother making excuses! Listen, you shouldn't have been so hard on Tony. You risked everything to save Bucky and he risked everything to save one of the few things he had to prove to himself that his dad loved him, so don't act like you were completely in the right in this one Steve!"_

 _The kid looked down. "You failed to protect me. He's going to kill you now."_

* * *

 _Sam was flying around; he was horrified when he saw all the rubble and demolished buildings. He landed when he saw Steve lying dead on a crushed car and some parts of the hood were seemingly twisted around the now deceased hero's waist._

 _A kid was a few feet away staring at them, the kid stepped forward and asked, "You know it's your fault this happened, right?"_

 _Sam gave a confused look, "What do you mean?"_

 _The boy replied, "You said you'd protect me from him and you didn't, you constantly allowed your emotions to get in the way during crucial missions. Look Sam, you didn't keep your promise so you're going to die by his hands now." Suddenly, something behind Sam started growling._

* * *

 _Tony, without his armor, looked around and saw Sam on the ground, very much dead. Tony ran to him and exclaimed, "Sam, Sam speak to me buddy! Sam? Sam!"_

 _Tony pushed the rubble off his friend's body and started shaking him. "Sam, Sam I swear if you're playing a practical joke on me…ugh it's hopeless! And I can't reach the others."_

 _He saw a boy staring at them. The boy walked over and said, "I'm sorry, it was too late by the time I reached him. That thing inside me must've gotten him."_

 _Tony stood up and asked, "Can you tell me what happened? What caused this?"_

 _The boy growled, "You caused it. You promised to protect me and help me keep it inside but you didn't and now the rest of our family is dead, Tony…It looks like…You're next on his list of meals." Suddenly, a shadowy figure grabbed Tony from behind._

* * *

 _Thor gasped when he saw Tony's body on the ground. He didn't have a scratch on him, but it looked like something damaged his arc reactor. Tony was already long dead in that case. Thor heard someone say, "I'm so sorry, Thor."_

 _He turned around to see a boy. Thor asked, "Are you ok?"_

 _The boy looked up and replied, "Yes, I'm fine. Thor, I tried keeping that thing inside me but it got out. I made a vow as a warrior and broke it. I'm so sorry, Thor."_

 _Thor couldn't move. He heard his voice but his lips weren't moving. He just kept watching as his voice spoke, "Even the strongest warriors make mistakes and you are but a child."_

 _Thor was able to move again, but as soon as he stood up, he froze. The boy replied, "Thor, you promised you'd help him. You said you'd help him but you didn't. You also failed to protect me. I know you said warriors make mistakes, but that thing in me doesn't feel the same way. Bye-bye Thor, I'll miss you." Something began snarling at the still frozen Thor._

* * *

 _Scott saw the giant crater with Thor in it. His helmet was broken in tiny little pieces and his hair was covering his face. A little boy sat beside Thor, shaking his shoulder. "Thor, c'mon…you gotta get up. Thor…we gotta go home."_

 _Scott slid down the crater and ran to them while asking, "Are you ok, kid?"_

 _The kid stood up and growled, "You caused this, monster! You broke your promise and now this thing is trying to kill our family and practically succeeded!"_

 _Scott stepped backwards as the now snarling boy walked towards him. "Scott, I'm not surprised you broke your promise to protect me. You're a bad guy, always have been always will be! Look, you broke your promise so now he's going to break you!" Scott didn't bother fighting back against the shadow dragging him away from the crater. He didn't understand why but he felt he deserved his fate._

* * *

 _Rick, in human form, saw Scott's body on top of a car. The hood was twisted around his body. Rick looked around and heard someone screaming. "Somebody, anybody, help me please! I'm under the rubble. Big brother, help me!" He turned around and saw a big pile of rubble, noticing that someone was staring at him through a small hole in the pile._

 _Rick ran over to the pile and said, "I'll help you."_

 _The voice replied, "I'll hold the top part up. Shake that lose piece of rubble out of my way." Rick nodded and shook the rubble out if between the two bigger pieces then helped push the other pieces out of the way._

 _He got down to the boy's level and asked, "Are you ok?" The kid looked up and replied, "Yeah big bro, I'm fine, but I have one thing to ask you."_

 _"What is it?"_

 _"Why didn't you keep your promise to protect me?"_

 _Rick gave a confused look. "What are you talking about?"_

 _The boy glared at him as he explained, "You made a vow to protect me from this thing inside me and you didn't. I'm not surprised though, without powers you could never be a true hero. You're just a silly little kid the Avengers keep around because Hulk likes you. Now that you've broken your promise, what use are you to them? Yeah, you try making Hulk look better by making videos of him. but without that what good are you? Maybe they were right; maybe you are just a waste of cells."_

 _Rick shook his head. "No, no I…I had powers. Somehow I lost them but I'm still useful to the team."_

 _The kid snorted. "They didn't want you though. Our family doesn't want you. Not even your powers wanted you. You could've made it stop by protecting me, but now all you can do is spend your last few moments alone as it rips into you! Maybe you deserve this; you always fail to protect your little bro. Besides, you always were my least favorite anyways." Rick fell to his knees and closed his eyes as the shadow picked him up by the back of his shirt._

* * *

 _Red Hulk saw Rick next to some rubble. Red called out, "Jones, get up soldier! We've got to evacuate the city…Jones?"_

 _Red ran over to the kid and sighed, "Rest well Jones."_

 _The hero looked around and groaned. "And I can't find Greenie or Shulky. Not even Shaggy's around."_

 _He began walking around when suddenly he stopped being able to move. A wall of glass formed around him before he heard his daughter Betty's voice, "Daddy? Daddy it's Betty. Do you remember me? Dad, I'm sorry we fought. I don't really hate you. I was just mad that you were so persistent in hunting down Hulk then turned yourself into Red Hulk to help capture him. I was so mad but I'm here now, dad. Please answer me." All Red could do was grunt. He couldn't stop himself from pounding on the glass and snarling._

 _He heard Jen say, "Betty, you should go. I promise we'll do everything we can to help your dad."_

 _Red then heard Hulk continue, "It'll be hard. The torture has left him mentally scared, but with enough therapy and time, Red will be back to his old self."_

 _Betty's voice replied, "Thanks Bruce, Jen. I'll see you later dad."_

 _The glass then vanished and Red was free to move again. He groaned, "What was that? That event never even happened, so why did it feel familiar?"_

 _A small boy appeared in front of him and replied, "Because it did happen. Abomination tortured you for days as revenge for turning him into a monster. The experience left you grunting and acting crazy."_

 _Red froze up again as the kid continued, "You broke the promise to not allow that thing inside me to drive me crazy, and thus you're next." The shadow wrapped its arms around Red and began to squeeze._

* * *

 _Jen gasped in horror when she saw Red's body next to Rick's. She ran over to them but stopped when she saw a boy staring at her. The boy ran to her and hugged her. "I'm glad you have time for me now, Jen. We barely saw each other at all in the last four years; barely recognize you now."_

 _He pulled away and continued, "Too bad we couldn't spend more time together."_

 _Jen gave a confused look and asked, "What do you mean? Who are you?"_

 _The kid crossed his arms, "You don't remember the little kid who you barely talked to? You don't remember the little kid that got five hundred points in his training session at ten and learned how to skate just to impress his idol? You don't remember the little kid that worked so hard to live up to you Jen? Of course you don't remember; promises to protect the little kid don't matter if you don't do more than call every night and visit once a month. That thing you said you'd protect me from? Yeah, it's out and kind of wants Jen-kill for fourth lunch." The shadow grabbed onto Jen's wrist._

* * *

 _Hulk ran after the shadow that was dragging a dead Jen away. They suddenly vanished causing Hulk to exclaim, "Jen, no!"_

 _A kid appeared in the very spot they vanished from and asked, "Do you remember me?"_

 _Hulk shook his head. "Sorry no. Look kid, you've got to get out of here. Get somewhere safe."_

 _The boy looked down and asked, "W-was I not good enough? I worked really hard during training and during the lessons; what more do I need to do?"_

 _A voice that sounded like his own spoke, "That's not it, kid. Look, I just don't want you getting hurt. I don't know what I'd do if you died or got captured."_

 _The boy's hair fell over his face as he looked up and growled, "So that's it. You don't believe in me! I work so hard making sure you guys take care of yourselves every day and the thanks I get is a pat on the head and a 'hide in your room.' I'm tired of you guys not respecting me for what I bring to this team. From now on you're on your own! See how long you last without me helping in some way." Suddenly something began to snarl behind him._

Hulk woke up with a start and groaned, "That dream again. Why do I keep having that dream?" He lied back down, ready to have that dream again.

* * *

It was morning time when the group met in the living room, due to the fact that they all dreamt up the same kid in similar dreams they decided to stay in Avengers Tower together to figure out what was happening. Tony began, "Ok, we know that we've each dreamt of the same kid, we know that just going through the entire dream doesn't help and makes it worse as evident by the repairs we had to make last week, this kid says stuff that feels very personal to us. Let's take out the stuff that we know is just Rick and Scott's subconscious speaking for now. Ok, so it seems that this kid somehow knew of events he shouldn't have known about, knows all our names, and says stuff we don't remember."

Thor spoke up, "He also talks about how we promised to keep something from getting out of him then whatever it is wants to kill us and does. And he said that I promised to help someone before breaking the promise to help keep it in."

Natasha nodded. "In my dream, he asked me not to kill him for it."

Red spoke up, "In my dream I was trapped briefly in glass and kept hearing Betty, Greenie, and Shulky's voices."

Hulk turned to him and replied, "Like I said, Red, Betty and Abomination don't remember that either."

Steve added, "There's something else. In my dream, he was yelling because of the Ultron incident. He mentioned Bucky and how it's not so different from Tony trying to save Arsenal."

Hulk gave a bewildered look as he asked, "So what? After it was all said and done, we did the same thing."

Tony turned around upon hearing this, "Why wasn't I invited to this?"

Steve immediately interjected, "Anyways, while he mentioned the incident he also mentioned that Arsenal was one of the last few things Tony had to prove that his dad loved him."

Natasha continued, "We said that too, but only the people here should've understood the incident at all."

Jen spoke up, "The dreams also started around the time Skaar vanished a week ago."

Tony looked over his board and sighed, "Ok, so we've got a kid who knows everything about us, we know nothing about him, and he more than likely wants us dead. Oh, and it started around the time Skaar, a person who we barely know except for the fact that he comes from Sakaar, vanishes."

Clint groaned, "Great, so on a scale of nine to ten, with nine being doomed and ten being doomed squared, I'd say we're an eleven." They heard someone open the door and when they turned to look, they saw the kid from their dreams staring at them.

 **Sorry if that was bad. Like I said, Marvel heroes are not my forte.**


	2. Chapter 2

**On with chapter two! Disclaimer: oh how I wish I owned this show**.

The group was tense. They didn't know if they should be on the offense or defense. The boy walked slowly to the group, before he broke out into a smile and ran to them, tackling Clint to the ground and laughing. "Thank goodness you're okay. You really had me worried there Clint, next time warn me when you're about to blow two city blocks up in a last ditch effort to beat Hyperion."

Clint gave a confused, "Huh?"

The kid released his hold, stood up, and turned to Rick, saying, "I'm Michael. You can call me Mikey. What's your name?"

Rick scratched the back of his head and replied, "Uh, A-bomb. You can call me Rick."

Mikey crossed his arms and said, "While you do look very cool, I must ask what you did."

"Why do you assume I did something?"

"Do you really want me to answer that Mr. 'I brought home an elephant can we keep it?'"

Rick gave a confused look before explaining, "It pretty much went like this. I kind of accidentally overloaded a gun's gamma core and it kind of blew me sky high."

Rick instinctively flinched as Mikey spoke, "Richard Millhouse Jones, how many times have we told you not to mess with those guns! You could've gotten gamma radiation poisoning, or worse, you could've died right then and there!"

Clint laughed. "You just got scolded by a ten year old."

Mikey turned to Clint. "You don't get to talk Mr. 'Blows up two city blocks and scares everyone half to death!'"

He turned to the others and calmly asked, "Have you guys had breakfast?"

Jen shook her head and replied, "No, we're kinda not hungry."

"Even Thor's not hungry?"

"Nope. We all had a bad dream last night."

Mikey grabbed a chair and asked, "What happened in the nightmare?"

Clint quickly replied, "Oh the usual. Ghosts, being buried alive, shattering into a million pieces. Same old, same old."

Mikey shook his head and chuckled. "Clint, your left eye twitches when you lie to me about anything. Now, tell me what happened. You can mince it if you want." They all looked nervously at each other. How does one gently tell a kid that they were in the nightmare and they don't remember him at all?

Mikey sighed. "Okay, let's try this. How long did you plan on hiding the fact that your memories have been erased and altered?"

Thor spoke up, "How did you know?"

Mikey gave a soft smile as he replied, "You may not remember, but I've lived with you long enough to know when something's up. Thor not being hungry isn't too big a deal if the nightmare was scary enough, but you forget one very important detail about Jen, Red, and the Hulk: their accelerated metabolism requires they eat a lot. And when I scolded Rick and Clint they didn't say anything like sorry or 'I can't believe I got scolded by a kid.' And I overheard you talking about the Ultron incident and how you don't remember me. Not surprised you remember that particular thing I said; our relationship after that day was kind of strained for about a month and five days."

Tony raised an eyebrow and asked, "How're you so nonchalant about this?"

Mikey chuckled a little. "Please, you guys lost your memory so often back then that if we wrote a book based on our lives, then literally half the book would be based on the times you got amnesia. Look, if you want further proof that this is real and not another villain's scheme, I'll show you my room. Come on guys."

The group looked at each other then followed him through the hall. Mikey looked at Red and noted, "It must've been quite a while since we last met. Last time I saw you, General, you weren't doing too well."

Red grunted. "Yeah, I had that flashback in the dream."

Mikey looked up to Scott and asked, "What's wrong Scott? You are using the sad puppy dog eyes without realizing it again."

Scott smiled while replying, "It's nothing, just thinking."

They stopped at a door on the fifth level of the tower. Mikey opened the door as he asked, "Haven't you guys ever tried coming in here before?"

Before they stepped in, Steve replied, "Something told us not to go in so we didn't." They walked in and looked at the light green walls covered with pictures of Mikey and the others hanging out and laughing. The red carpet on the floor was pretty clean except for a few stuffed animals scattered around. There was a door with the words Panic Room written on it near the medium sized bed with blue sheets on it.

Thor noticed a picture with two boys who must've been about four years old sitting on the nightstand and asked, "Who's in this photo?"

Mikey walked over to him and replied, "My twin brother Hiro and I. I'm the taller one. That photo was taken the day before I was sent to live with my dad. Hiro had to stay behind because he was sickly and needed to be trained in how to rule our people."

Jen asked, "Where are you from?"

Mikey turned to Jen. "I'm from the planet Sakaar."

Rick became alert once he heard this before asking, "Do you know anyone named Skaar then?"

Mikey shook his head. "Sorry, but I never knew a lot of people from the planet besides my mom and little brother and the guards."

Mikey pulled a drawer out from under his bed and asked, "Wanna look at family photos? It might help jog your memory." Mikey sat on the floor with the photo book and turned the page. One picture was of when he was four years old. In the first picture, he was holding a small brown bear above a box. He was grinning from ear to ear and behind him sat Clint with a small smile on his face. In the next photo, Jen was trying to help him balance on a small skateboard. Hulk was helping get a green helmet onto the boy's head. In the third picture, Mikey was sitting on his bed with Natasha who was trying to read him a story titled The Three Little Pigs. In the fourth, Sam appeared to be trying to calm Mikey down with a plate of cookies. Mikey looked very upset over something. In the photo next to it, he was watching Hulk and Thor train and appeared to be enjoying himself. The sixth one showed him cuddled up against Steve as Hulk and Thor continued training in the background. In the one right below it, Tony was trying to fix the bars on the bed while Hulk and Jen tried to calm a very startled looking Mikey down. In the last photo on the page, Rick was leaning against the bed, snoozing with Mikey.

Mikey looked up and explained, "That was the first day I lived here. As you can tell I was very uncomfortable at first. Guess I wasn't used to being the only kid back then. Oh, here's the first day I met you, General. Rick's special cameras took all kinds of pictures. I think we even have a video of it somewhere." They stared in surprise at what was shown; it was a five year old Mikey, standing in between of Hulk and Red, in human form, and giving Red the best death glare a five year old could give.

Red and Hulk stared awkwardly at each other for a moment before moving on to the next picture. Once Clint caught a glimpse of the photo, he burst out laughing. "What is that?" The picture was of Mikey with a bow, a shield, a small version of Natasha's costume, a mechanical arm, a Spider-Man mask, a small version of Thor's helmet, and two tiny, red plastic wings on his back.

Mikey chuckled lightly at the photo. "I was trying to dress myself when I was five. I wanted to incorporate everything you guys wore and…yeah I was no fashionista. I also tried doing that for Halloween…not sure if we saved the photo."

Jen looked around the room before she spoke up, "Did you keep any journals?"

Mikey pulled out the drawer in his bed and replied, "You gave a few to me when I was five, and I had horrible writing back then. Oh, and I had horrible spelling so if you're wondering why I said 'comas are fun' on the one page, that's why. Start with this one; it might help to ease you into remembering everything." He handed her a green metallic book. Jen opened to the first page and read out loud

 _Jen gave me a journal to write my thoughts on! I'll use them lots and lots then hide them, we had bunches of choclite cakes because it's my birthday! Oh and Tony taught me about comas, comas are fun!_

 _I'm sorry I haven't written for a couple days, it's been hard to write, tower got wrecked. Today everyone was sad, Jen, Tony, Hulk, Rick and Clint were looking at photos of their parents, Thor was looking at a photo of his brother, he has a little brother like me, and Captain was looking at a photo of a friend. Nat and Sam explained that today was the day of sadness for the team. I don't like it when they get sad, Tony drank a bunch of loopy juice, cried, got sick in the bathroom, cried some more, then passed out after a whole minute of getting sick and crying. Captain tried calming him down but he cried even more, he kept saying a name, I think of a friend's, over and over. He misses his friend, mommy and daddy lots, I'm gonna make it so that this never happens again which means tonight I'm going to throw all the leftover loopy juice away and make sure that he drinks lots of liquids and sleeps lots in the morning like mama told me to when I got sick a month ago._

Steve interjected, "Tony got drunk in front of you?"

Mikey turned to Steve and explained, "Not exactly. I was told to go into my room but I still heard quite a bit. Tony's emotional when drunk, I think, only happened once. I guess he kind of stopped after I threw the leftovers out because he might have heard me get up to throw the cans away. Anyways, it's almost lunch time, I'll make us lunch you guys can talk."

As soon as he left, Clint spoke up, "Anyone else find this a little creepy?"

Jen flipped through the journal as she replied, "I find it creepy and sad. I mean, this whole journal is an entire year of Mikey trying to keep us smiling and entertained during some pretty dark times."

Rick read some of it with her before groaning, "Man, did we just unload everything on him for the last six years, we're horrible people."

Jen sat the journal down before replying, "Doesn't sound like we unloaded much of anything. It seems like we simply told him the problem and he tried everything he could to fix it."

Steve spoke up, "One important question remains, who's the father?"

Natasha looked at the pictures on the wall and wondered, "What isn't he telling us?"

They went into the kitchen after a couple minutes to see the table filled with plates for each of them. There were cheeseburgers, hotdogs, Clint's plate had a few pizza bagels on it, and everyone had drinks, except for the Hulk. Mikey kept an eye on the kettle and asked, "Do you remember the Roselle tea that you used to drink?"

Hulk sat down and replied, "It's been a few years, but yes."

Mikey poured the drink from the kettle into a cup and said, "I made some for you, and just a little for me."

Tony drank some of his orange juice and asked, "Why do you need the Roselle tea?"

Mikey sat at the table and replied, "Blood pressure. It helps keep it down to a safe level. I needed it after what happened with Ultron." Suddenly, an alarm went off. Mikey sat his cup down and continued, "But we can talk about that another time. I'll go to the panic room while you fight the bad guys." And they parted ways.

 **I hope you liked that, next up we'll get an adorable scene plus a quick… well, you'll see.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope you're loving this so far. As usual, my beta is AnimeGirl 144. Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

The group stood in shock and surprise at what they saw. Wolverine was standing next to a ten year old girl with black hair, green eyes, and slightly tanned skin. The girl grinned slightly at Rick while Wolverine held his ground; he tensed even more but calmed down slightly when the girl spoke, "I am Talon, Wolverine's daughter. I am here to find my half-brother Akihiro. He broke into the tower about a minute ago."

Clint's hand slowly crept to his bow as he asked, "Why should we believe you?"

Talon stepped forward and showed them an ID card that let her into the tower. She put it back in her pocket and continued, "My brother is in here right now. He and Mikey are probably having one of their epic battles right now."

They heard a crash upstairs, Tony announced, "Someone's in the training room."

As the team rushed to see what was going on Talon turned to Wolverine and said, "Dad, you can go if you want; Mikey's here. I'll call you later."

Wolverine turned around and replied, "I expect you to call at nine o'clock tonight. If you don't, I'll drag you and your brother back home."

Talon grinned slightly at this. "Yes sir!" Wolverine nodded and left the tower. Talon turned around and hurried to the others.

When the others got to the training room, they heard Mikey and someone else fighting each other inside. They ran in and saw Mikey fighting a boy who was at least twelve. He had black hair, blue eyes, and wore a black body suit. Mikey looked over to the Avengers and laughed. "Don't worry. We're friends that are merely greeting each other with a little combat."

The boy tackled Mikey to the ground and chuckled, "You're doing great runt! You haven't lost your touch!"

"You're not too bad yourself. You still keep your end of the bargain?"

"How couldn't I with Miss Goody Two-Shoes on my case since you left?"

Talon ran past the Avengers and to the boys while laughing, "Oh Ani, you'll never guess where my goody two shoes are about to end up!"

She tackled the older boy to the ground. Mikey cracked up upon seeing the other boy's horrified look. "Yeah, you kinda deserve this, mi hermano."

They began tickling the older boy, causing him to struggle and squeal, "No, no, Otōto, Imōto. Stop, I give up!" They kept it up for another minute then stopped to let him catch his breath before continuing. The older heroes looked at each other and back to the kids. They seemed so loving towards each other. They seemed to respect each other yet teased each other frequently; they were like siblings in a way. The kids stopped then did perhaps the oddest thing; the kids bumped their heads together before the three howled in unison.

They stood up and walked over to the Avengers. Talon looked over to the older boy and asked, "Do you have anything to say Akihiro?"

Akihiro raised his hands in his defense and said, "I'm sorry, ok? I was sneaking in to surprise Mikey and I accidentally set off an alarm. I know I should've waited another couple hours for you, but I was so excited to finally see my little bro again."

Mikey raised an eyebrow and asked, "How did you know I was alive?"

Talon looked to Akihiro then back to Mikey before replying, "Your mom told us and anyone who's memories weren't erased that a hero from Sakaar with the planet's namesake would come to Earth then bring you back to Avengers Tower before vanishing. Skaar, who according to the files is from Sakaar, vanished, so we figured you'd be here by now."

Mikey nodded then asked, "Ok that makes sense. So how long was I gone?"

Akihiro looked down with a somber expression before replying, "Almost an entire year."

Mikey's tone suddenly changed from playful and curious to worry as he spoke, "Hiro, did he survive?"

Talon tilted her head a little in confusion and asked, "Do you not remember?"

Mikey shook his head and began to panic as he replied, "No, all I remember is that I was trying to find Hiro after Hyperion was taken out. Everyone was hurt. I wasn't even sure if Clint survived. Suddenly Leader appeared and was about to attack Scott, so I grabbed one of Akihiro's swords so I could fend him off until Hulk or Jen or even Wolverine woke up. And that's when I blacked out. Is. Hiro. Ok?"

Akihiro nodded and replied, "Yep. Your mom gave up the last of her strength and saved you two before having all the telepaths erase and alter just about everyone's memories."

Instead of relaxing like Akihiro wanted Mikey became even more distraught, he crossed his arms and asked, "What do you mean 'gave up the last of her strength'? Is mom ok?"

Talon elbowed the older boy hard enough in the ribs to leave a bruise for about ten seconds before she somberly explained, "Mikey, you know how your mom was hurt after that attack by Leader and was told to stay in bed for a year?"

Mikey nodded cautiously, "Yes, mom said she'd be fine. She said that she'd focus a little more on teaching Hiro about ruling Sakaar. Why?"

Talon looked down. She really wished none of what happened occurred that year. It would be so much better. Mikey took her hands and said, "Laura, please tell me."

Talon didn't want to, but Mikey needed to know so she looked up and replied, "Mikey, your mom she…she died. I'm so sorry Mikey." Mikey let his hair fall over his face. Not only did he learn that he had been gone for over a year, but he had also lost his mother without being there.

He looked back up when Clint asked, "Mikey, are you going to be ok?"

Mikey clenched his fists before he turned around and replied, "Clint, everyone, I'll be in my room focusing on how to get your memories back. We'll worry about me when you guys can remember everything about the past."

He rushed out of the room before anyone could respond. Akihiro scratched the back of his head before he glared at the Avengers and coldly explained, "We all have our little ways of dealing with death. I lighten the mood, Laura acts a little blunt, and Mikey, well, he tends to focus on everything but that. Just in case you were wondering."

And he walked out of the room. Laura took off her mask and said, "Don't take it personally. Akihiro's just angry at current events. You know how that is." With that, she walked out of the room. The adults gave each other a concerned look.

* * *

The three kids were in Mikey's room. Akihiro looked at the picture of Mikey and his brother and asked, "Why do you still keep this? After what he did…"

Laura smacked her brother upside the head before Mikey explained, "It's not Hiro's fault. Loki manipulated him."

Akihiro nodded and asked, "And why do you still care about Loki? And don't say you don't."

Mikey gave him an incredulous look and replied, "The same reason Thor still cares about him, whether by blood or not he is still family. The X-men are also part of this family. Fury still remembers the promise right? So no matter what happens we stick together."

Akihiro laughed bitterly, "Ha, that's a laugh! They didn't even try to help during the incident with Evan, I mean come on since when have they ever listened about not butting into our affairs?! Now Evan is in the sewers with some other mutants and his powers have overtaken his body!"

Mikey tried to calm his friend down by saying, "Akihiro, I know you're angry, furious even, but you have to remain calm. What did Professor McCoy always say about anger towards others?"

His friend brought out his claws and replied, "Punch them in the face, right?"

Laura and Mikey laughed before Akihiro let his claws back in and continued, "I know, I know, forgive them. Also, an eye for an eye ends with everyone blind."

Mikey nodded. "We've had to see horrible things; things no kid should. And yes the Avengers sometimes act a little condescending towards people and sometimes they act childish, but they'll get better over time."

Laura sat on the bed and asked, "Have you told them who your father is yet?"

Mikey groaned. "No."

"Mikey, you have to tell him."

"Laura, you know just as well as I do that he wanted to be a better dad than his was. Telling him now would be too much."

Akihiro put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "How do you know if it's too much?"

Mikey let some tears drop as he exclaimed, "I don't, ok! I don't know how to help them. I don't know what mother had planned. I just don't know! What am I supposed to say, huh?! 'Hey dad, I'm your son who you don't remember. Please don't feel bad!'"

Laura gently took his hands and said, "We'll help you figure it out then. Hmm, maybe start from your roots? Start with Queen Caiera. Maybe then they'll understand or even remember by themselves. You still have the old simulation sphere?" Mikey nodded and opened a safe in the floor. From the safe he pulled out a silver metallic sphere with gold and blue glowing lines all around it.

* * *

Mikey, Akihiro, and Laura walked into the living room, where the others were discussing something. Mikey spoke up, "I've decided that you need to know my mother's story to understand why she chose a human to be her husband. I can show you with this."

He took the sphere out, before he did anything Natasha cautiously asked, "What is that?"

Mikey explained, "It's a simulator. It lets us see a record of the past. It updates constantly, and it also lets us interact with Sakaar itself in real time using holograms, so we can see anyone we want. Here, watch." Mikey pressed a red button then flipped a few switches, causing the sphere to separate into multiple tiny pieces and surround the group.

Mikey spoke up. "Data board, show me the history of Queen Caiera. Specification: section one to section twelve." Soon the metal seemed to become the sky and sand…

 **There we go. Next up, we'll have a long story on the history of Queen Caiera.**


End file.
